BBC NEWS | Business | The state pension turns 100 The state pension turns 100 By Ian Pollock Personal finance reporter, BBC News The new state pension marked a revolution in welfare policy Sir Mick Jagger, now 65, receives his first state pension payment this month. This modest increase to his wealth coincides with the 100th anniversary of the start of the state pension system. The Old Age Pensions Act was passed in August 1908 and the first payments were made on 1 January 1909. That month, just over half a million old and very poor people queued up at their local post offices to collect the first state pension payments available in the UK. Limited scope The maximum payment of five shillings (25p) for a single man or woman was meagre - the equivalent of just under ï¿½20 a week now. To get even this you had to be at least 70 years old, at a time when only about 5% of the population were older than that. It was means-tested too.

Full pension 5 shillings per week, equivalent to ï¿½19.30p now 1 in 200 lived to age 100 10 workers for every pensioner 1.2 million aged over 70 (in 1901) Source: Department for Work and Pensions You were only eligible for the new payment if your income was less than 12 shillings a week, and the pension could be reduced if you had too much furniture. You might be denied it at all if you had been sent to prison in the previous ten years, were habitually drunk, had never worked when able to do so, or were otherwise of bad character. "The state was stepping in to replace the punitive poor law there had been before," says Pat Thane, professor of contemporary British history at the University of London. "It did provide for more people, but it didn't provide enough to live on and it was a very stringent means test." To check up on claimants and their entitlement, civil servants known as pensions officers would visit people in their homes, assess their circumstances and then make recommendations to a separate pensions committee.

Only then might you be authorised to receive a pension book to cash in each week. 'A new phenomenon' Before the 1908 Old Age Pensions Act was passed there had been more than three decades of public debate, agitation and campaigning in favour of the creation some sort of public pension system. The bad old days of the work house The Friendly Societies, whose collective savings schemes were aimed at the more prosperous workers, and the workhouses of the Victorian poor laws, aimed at the totally destitute, were both buckling under the strain of people beginning to live longer. "For the first time many people were living beyond the point when they were physically capable of working," says the Conservative MP David Willetts, in a historical pamphlet for the actuaries Punter Southall. "The Victorians called this new phenomenon retirement," he adds. Five government committees and a Royal Commission all examined various proposals over 30 years but nothing was done until the Liberals won a huge electoral victory in 1906. Within two years the new system was on the law books. "It was the very first universal cash benefit without the stigma of the Poor Law," says Mr Willetts.

"Despite the years of argument about National Insurance and the importance of contributions it had no contribution condition. "That in turn meant that help could reach pensioners straight away," he says. Big changes The current state pension system has changed enormously since 1909, and will do so for many more years to come. In 1928 it was revamped and targeted at all workers, with the pension age reduced to 65, but with the still small payments now dependent on workers paying in. Then in 1948, along with the National Health Service, came what is still the modern state pension system, proposed during the war years by Sir William Beveridge. STATE PENSIONS NOW - 2008 Old Age Pensions Act Old Age Pensions Act ▼ Primary Sources ▼ Old Age Pensions Act In 1902 George Barnes , General Secretary of the Amalgamated Society of Engineers, formed the National Committee of Organised Labour for Old Age Pension. Barnes spent the next three years travelling the country urging this social welfare reform. The measure was extremely popular and was an important factor in Barnes being able to defeat Andrew Bonar Law , the Conservative cabinet minister in the 1906 General Election .

David Lloyd George, the Chancellor of the Exchequer in the Liberal government led by Herbert Asquith in 1908, was also an opponent of the Poor Law in Britain. He was determined to take action that in his words would "lift the shadow of the workhouse from the homes of the poor". He believed the best way of doing this was to guarantee an income to people who were to old to work. In 1908 Lloyd George introduced the Old Age Pensions Act that provided between 1s. and 5s. a week to people over seventy. These pensions were only paid to citizens on incomes that were not over 12s. Although most Labour Party members of the House of Commons welcomed Lloyd George's reforms, politicians such as James Keir Hardie , George Barnes , Fred Jowett , Joseph Clynes , and George Lansbury argued that the level of benefits were far too low. They also complained that the pensions should be universal and disliked what was later to be called the Means Test aspect of these reforms. To pay for these pensions David Lloyd George had to raise government revenues by an additional £16 million a year.

In 1909 Lloyd George announced what became known as the People's Budget. This included increases in taxation. Whereas people on lower incomes were to pay 9d in the pound, those on annual incomes of over £3,000 had to pay 1s. 2d. in the pound. Lloyd George also introduced a new supertax of 6d. in the pound for those earning £5000 a year. Other measures included an increase in death duties on the estates of the rich and heavy taxes on profits gained from the ownership and sale of property. The Conservatives , who had a large majority in the House of Lords , objected to this attempt to redistribute wealth, and made it clear that they intended to block these proposals. Lloyd George reacted by touring the country making speeches in working-class areas on behalf of the budget and portraying the nobility as men who were using their privileged position to stop the poor from receiving their old age pensions . After a long struggle with the House of Lords Lloyd George finally got his budget through parliament. As a result of this conflict, the Liberal Government passed the 1911 Parliament Act that restricted the power of the House of Lords to block legislation passed by the House of Commons .

BBC NEWS | Business | History of pensions: A brief guide Monday, 9 December, 2002, 11:35 GMT History of pensions: A brief guide Beveridge, Thatcher and Lloyd George have left their mark on pensions A brief guide to the history of pensions in the United Kingdom: 1670s First organised pension scheme for Royal Navy Officers 1908 Old Age Pensions Act - introduced first general old age pension paying a non-contributory amount of between 10p and 25p a week, from age 70, on a means-tested basis from January 1 1909 - "Pensions Day". This was introduced during the Liberal government of David Lloyd-George. Sir William Beveridge, father of the welfare state, was an adviser. 1921 Finance Act - tax relief granted to pension schemes satisfying certain conditions. 1925 Contributory Pensions Act - set up a contributory State scheme for manual workers and others earning up to ï¿½250 a year. The pension was 50p a week from age 65.

1942 Sir William Beveridge publishes his "Social Insurance and Allied Services" report with state welfare proposals. 1946 National Insurance Act - introduced contributory State pension for all. Initially pensions were ï¿½1.30 a week for a single person and ï¿½2.10 for a married couple. Paid from age 65 for men and 60 for women, effective from 1948. 1947 Finance Act - limited the maximum amount of tax relief on pensions, and the proportion that could be taken as a lump sum. 1959 National Insurance Act - introduced a top-up state pensions scheme, based on earnings and known as the graduated pension. Covered earnings between ï¿½9 and ï¿½15 a week. 1975 Social Security Pensions Act - set up the State Earnings related Pension Scheme (Serps). Introduced in 1978, the scheme replaced graduated pensions. Rules for contracting out were also introduced, whereby workers with adequate private provision can give up all or part of the benefits of Serps. In return they pay lower National Insurance contributions.

1980 Social Security Act - Link between state pension increases and average earnings broken by Margaret Thatcher's Conservative government. If the link with earnings had not been broken, a basic state pension for a single pensioner would worth about ï¿½30 a week more. 1986 Financial Services Act - set out terms and conditions under which investment business could be conducted. Changes to contracting out. 1991/2 Maxwell scandal. Mirror newspaper proprietor Robert Maxwell had used about ï¿½460m from his group's pension funds to finance business dealings. 1995 Pensions Act - response to Maxwell, which set up regulatory and compensation schemes. 1997 Removed tax credits for pension funds on company dividends. 1999 Introduction of Minimum Income Guarantee (Mig), income support for poorest pensioners. 2001 Introduction of stakeholder pensions, a low-cost pensions scheme aimed at people on low to average earnings and helping women save for old age. 2002 British pensioner Annette Carson, who lives in South Africa, failed in her legal challenge against the UK government to have her pension uprated with inflation. The case has implications for thousands of British ex-pat pensioners worldwide.

2002 Switch from Serps to the State Second Pension scheme. 2003 Introduction of the Pension Credit, which will bring half a million pensioners into means-testing. Based on information from the National Association of Pension Funds (NAPF). Paul Lewis Writing Archive - Wilkie Collins HISTORY OF STATE PENSION AGE 1908 - age 70 The first state pension in the UK was the Old Age Pension. The law was passed in August 1908 and the first pensions paid on 1 January 1909 to around 500,000 people aged 70 or more. It was 5/= (five shillings or 25p) a week and was paid in full to individuals aged 70 or more with an annual income of �21 a year or less reducing to nothing at an annual income of �31 a year. A higher pension of 7/6 (62.5p) was paid to a married man. At the time only one in four people reached the age of 70 and life expectancy at that age was about 9 years.

1925 - age 65 In 1925 a new kind of pension was introduced based on contributions paid at work by employer and employee. It was paid from age 65 without a means-test. A married couple's rate of pension was paid if both spouses were aged 65 or more. That meant many men had to wait for some time after they reached 65 to get the higher rate for their wives. 1940 - men age 65, women age 60 In 1940 pension age for women was cut to 60 to try to ensure for most couples that the married rate would be paid as soon as the husband reached 65. 1948 - retirement condition added From 1948, men had to retire as well as reach 65 to claim the new Retirement Pension paid under the National Insurance scheme. If their wife was still under 60 when they reached 65 and retired they could now claim a dependant's addition for her. 1995 - women's state pension age to be equalised Following pressure from Europe, the Conservative Government was forced to announce plans to equalise state pension age for men and women.

The timetable was the most relaxed possible and would raise pension age for women to 65 slowly from April 2010 to April 2020. 2007 - further rises in pension age to 66, 67, and then 68 introduced The Labour Government passed a new law to raise state pension age to 66 between April 2024 and April 2026, then to 67 between April 2034 and April 2036 and to 68 between April 2044 and April 2046. 6 April 2010 - women's state pension age begins to rise The first women are affected by the equalisation changes. Women born 6 April 1950 to 5 May 1950 have to wait until 6 May 2010 to reach state pension age, a delay of up to one month. Entitlement to Pension Credit for men and women is now linked to women's state pension age rather than the age of 60. A similar change restricts entitlement in England only to free bus travel.

Entitlement to Winter Fuel Payment is also linked to women's state pension age and the qualifying date for the payment in winter 2010/11 moves to 5 July 2010. It will rise by six months each year. May 2010 - further change promised In opposition the Conservative Party had announced it would raise pension age for men and women more quickly than existing plans. After it came to power with the Liberal Democrats in May 2010 this pledge was repeated in the programme for government set out in the Coalition Agreement. "We will...hold a review to set the date at which the state pension age starts to rise to 66, although it will not be sooner than 2016 for men and 2020 for women." October 2010 - revised changes The commitment in the Coalition Agreement fell foul of EU equality laws which allowed the government to equalise state pension ages as late as April 2020 but would not allow further discrimination between men and women during that process. So in the Spending Review of October 2010 the plans were revised.

Women's state pension age would now be raised more quickly to reach 65 in 2018 and then both men and women's pension age would rise to 66 by 2020. Critics pointed out that plan breached the Coalition Agreement promise of 'no sooner than...2020 for women'. 2011 - Pensions Bill sets out the planned changes In February 2011 the detailed timetable for change was announced in the Pensions Bill 2011. Women's state pension age would rise to 65 by November 2018 and then men and women's pension age would rise together to reach 66 by 5 April 2020. Five million men and women would face a later state pension date. But while men would have to wait at most another year, 500,000 women would have to wait longer than a year. The wait for 300,000 would be 18 months or more and 33,000 would have to wait for two years.

Widespread protests and rebellions in Parliament - which the Government defeated - led to promises by the Secretary of State Iain Duncan-Smith to introduce some 'transitional' changes to help the most severely affected women. But the Pensions Bill went through almost all its stages in Parliament with no details of what the Government would actually do. On Thursday 13 October 2011, the last possible date, the Government announced its plans. It would cap the delay for women at 18 months. It kept the rise to 65 by November 2018. But would then stretch out the transition from age 65 to 66 for both men and women by an extra six months. It will now be completed in October 2020. The concession will cost �1.1 billion (at 2010/11 prices), half of which will be spent on stretching the timetable for men, none of whom had complained. On Tuesday 18 October 2011 the House of Commons accepted these changes and despite a further attempt in the Lords to amend them the Pensions Act 2011 became law on 3 November 2011.

April 2011 In April 2011 the Government began a consultation on how it should bring forward the change in state pension age to 67 and then 68. That consultation closed on 24 June 2011. 29 November 2011 On 29 November 2011 in the Autumn Statement the Chancellor George Osborne announced that the rise in the State Pension Age to 67 would be brought forward to April 2026 to April 2028 instead of April 2034 to April 2036. Further changes Under the Pensions Act 2007 the state pension age will rise to 68 between April 2044 and April 2046. That date will be brought forward.

30 November 2011 version 1.10 State pension: The overhaul and you - BBC News BBC News State pension: The overhaul and you By Kevin Peachey Personal finance reporter, BBC News 9 February 2015 Close share panel Image copyright Other Image caption The state pension has seen significant changes since this man collected it in 1909 When the state pension was introduced in 1909, the maximum payment was five shillings (25p) a week - the equivalent of about £20 today. Just over 500,000 old and poor people queued up to receive it. They had to be at least 70 years old, have an income of less than 12 shillings a week and not have too much furniture, which was judged as a sign of wealth. An overhaul of the state pension system will see a single-tier pension - of £155 a week - being paid to some new pensioners from April 2016. Others will get less, and those who qualified for a pension before April 2016 will remain on the old system. So how will this change the current system and how will it affect you?

How is the state pension run at the moment? Those who qualify for a state pension currently start to receive payments in their 60s. The exact age is being equalised for men and women. It is rising to 66 for both sexes by 2020, then to 67 by 2028. People can look at a state pension calculator to find the age at which they will receive it. Some of those who qualified for a pension under the old system also receive the State Second Pension, or Serps, which is the government's earnings-related additional pension. There is also an additional means test that tops up the pensions of the less wealthy. This additional amount is called the Pension Credit, or Minimum Income Guarantee. Those who qualify are guaranteed a weekly minimum £151 for a single person and £230 for couples. But is it correct that not everyone gets these payments? Yes. Your state pension depends on how long you have worked and the number of National Insurance qualifying years you have. If you reached the state pension age on or after 6 April 2010, you need to have 30 qualifying years for a full basic state pension.

If you reached the pension age before April 2010, then a woman normally needed 39 qualifying years, and a man needed 44 qualifying years during a regular working life to get the full state pension. If you are in a couple, and only one person in a couple qualifies for the basic state pension, then you can still receive top-up state pension payments of up to £64.40 a week by using one partner's National Insurance record. Currently, those aged 80 and over who do not qualify for a basic state pension because of an incomplete National Insurance record, can get a smaller pension as long as they fulfil factors such as residency requirements. Image caption Pensions can be very complicated to administer and to understand There seems to be quite a lot of paperwork there? And there is more. The means test actually puts some people off the top-up they are entitled to. An estimated 1.5 million people could claim the extra money through Pension Credit but are not doing so. The government says this is all too complicated. It wants to make the system simpler - but it still will not be simple. What do the latest proposals say? The government has outlined proposals for a major overhaul of the system.

This aims to simplify the system by getting rid of all the means-tested sections entirely, for all those retiring from April 2017. It plans to give a universal payment - of £144 a week at today's prices - for all those who reach their state pension age and have 35 years of National Insurance contributions. Owing to the complexity of pensions, including "contracting out" arrangements, it will actually be the case that some people will get more than £144 a week, and quite a large number will get less . Those who start receiving a state pension before April 2016 will not be affected. Who wins, if these changes happen? Those who have built up quite big savings for their retirement could be better off. This is because these savings are considered, at present, in the means testing for Pension Credit. A simple system means that it should be easier to explain why people need to save more - on top of the state pension - for their retirement years. The self-employed, who have received a relatively small state pension, could also benefit. Those who have taken time out of work to care for children, or people with disabilities will have access to the enhanced single-tier pension.

The flat rate of £144 per week per person at today's prices means that the actual level of payment will be higher than £144 and will depend on the level of inflation between now and then. The government will want to get implementation right, to prevent confusion during the transfer between the current system and the new one. Who loses and which aspects could prove controversial? The timing will be significant. For example, existing pensioners will remain in the old system, so they could be slightly worse off than new pensioners. In the long-term, those who are aged in their early 20s now may be worse off than they would have been under the current system. There is also likely to be much discussion on whether a millionaire getting the same state pension as somebody on the breadline is fair or not, although this income would be taxed. And, on a more technical point, some people on a workplace final-salary scheme pay less National Insurance (NI) because their state second pension is "contracted out". They will receive a reduced version of the flat-rate pension to acknowledge the fact that they have not been contributing to the state second pension in the preceding years.

Anyone who has not paid NI for at least seven, or possibly even 10, years in total in their working life will not qualify for the new single-tier state pension at all. 1301.0 - Year Book Australia, 1988 1301.0 - Year Book Australia, 1988 Previous ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 01/01/1988 HISTORY OF PENSIONS AND OTHER BENEFITS IN AUSTRALIA (This article has been contributed by the Department of Social Security) At the turn of the century there was no social security system in Australia. Charitable relief was provided to needy persons by voluntary organisations, in some cases with the assistance of government grants. The main areas of need which attracted charitable assistance were the 'sick poor', neglected children, old people who were destitute and women who had been deserted or who had 'fallen' pregnant. The unemployed were assisted by grants of wages, or rations, in return for relief work provided by the government.

THE BEGINNINGS The Commonwealth of Australia was formed on I January 1901 by federation of the six States under a written constitution which, among other things, authorised the new Commonwealth Parliament to legislate in respect of age and invalid pensions. In the event, the Commonwealth did not exercise this power until June 1908 when legislation providing for the introduction of means-tested 'flat-rate' age and invalid pensions was passed. The new pensions, which were financed from general revenue, came into operation in July 1909 and December 1910 respectively, superseding State age pension schemes which had been introduced in New South Wales (1900), Victoria (1900) and Queensland (1908) and an invalid pension scheme introduced in New South Wales (1908). The new pension was paid to men from age 65. It was paid to women at age 60, but not until December 1910. The age pension was also subject to a residence qualification of 25 years which was reduced to 20 years shortly after introduction. A residence qualification of five years applied to the invalid pension. In 1912 the Commonwealth introduced a maternity allowance.

This allowance was a lump sum cash grant payable to a mother on the birth of a child. 1914-1940 No new Commonwealth social security payments were introduced until World War II. There were, however, several notable developments in the States, including: in New South Wales, the introduction of widows' pensions in 1926 and child endowment in 1927; and in Queensland the introduction of an unemployment insurance scheme in 1923. The principal changes in age and invalid pensions during this period were in the rates and the means test. A provision for automatic increases in pension rates on the basis of changes in the cost of living was introduced in 1933, repealed in 1937 and reintroduced in 1940. Measures which would have placed pensions on a social insurance basis and introduced a number of new cash payments were proposed in 1928 and 1938 but were not implemented. The Commonwealth Department of Social Services was created in 1939 and became fully operative in 1941. Pensions had previously been administered within the Department of the Treasury.

1941-1949 Child endowment was introduced in 1941. This provided a regular flat-rate cash payment, free of means test, to parents (usually the mother) for children after the first child. The New South Wales child endowment scheme was abolished at the same time. Widows' pensions were introduced in 1942. As in the case of age and invalid pensions they were flat-rate means-tested payments financed from general revenue. Those eligible included deserted wives, divorced women, and women whose husbands were in prison or a mental hospital. A residence qualification of five years applied. The new scheme superseded the New South Wales widows' pension. There were several developments in 1943. Funeral benefits were introduced; these were lump sum grants payable for the funeral costs or a pensioner. Wife's allowance was introduced for an incapacitated male pensioner with a dependent spouse. A reciprocal agreement on social security was concluded with New Zealand. In addition, automatic cost-of-living adjustments to pension rates were repealed when their application would have resulted in a rate reduction.

There was a major extension of the social security system in 1945 with the introduction or Commonwealth unemployment and sickness benefits in the form of flat-rate payments financed from general revenue and subject to an income test. The Queensland scheme of unemployment insurance was superseded by the new benefits. The introduction of these new benefits took place against a background of major changes in the revenue-raising functions of the Commonwealth and the States. The Commonwealth took sole responsibility for income tax in 1942, and thus expanded substantially its capacity to raise revenue. While the exigencies of World War II had much to do with this change, its broader effect was to facilitate an expansion of the Commonwealth's role in social security as in other areas. There was a further development of specific relevance to social security in 1945. The Commonwealth split the personal income tax into two components. One, the social services contribution, was to be used exclusively to finance social security cash payments. Revenue from the contribution was paid into the National Welfare Fund, from which all such cash payments were to be made, but there was no link between personal contributions and entitlements. The fund was supplemented by subventions from payroll tax and general revenue.

In the event, the social services contribution was again merged into a single personal income tax in 1950. All cash payments are now made direct from general revenue. Doubts had arisen during the early forties about the constitutional validity of the Commonwealth legislation in respect of cash payments other than age and invalid pensions, which were specifically within the powers of the Commonwealth. Accordingly, a referendum was held in 1946 under which the Commonwealth sought an extension of its powers in the areas of social security and health. The referendum was carried. In 1947 the various social security cash payments were consolidated into a single Social Services Act. 1950-1969 In 1950 child endowment was extended to cover the first child. It was further extended in 1964 to cover children who, after reaching the normal disqualifying age of 16, continued as full-time students but were aged under 21. The Pensioner Medical Service was established in 1951. In effect, it provided free medical treatment to pensioners through participating doctors who were paid a fee for treating pensioners free of direct charge. The service also made free hospital treatment available to pensioners.

In 1952 the means test on age and invalid pension eligibility was largely removed for permanently blind people. !t was completely removed in 1954. A reciprocal agreement on social security was concluded with the United Kingdom in 1953. In 1956 pensioners with more than one child became entitled to additional pension for each child after the first. Previously, an allowance had been payable only for the first child. Supplementary assistance (now known as rent assistance) was introduced in 1958 for a single pensioner paying rent, and wholly or substantially dependent on his or her pension. A married pensioner whose spouse was not a pensioner was also eligible. A major change took place in the pension means test in 1961. The separate property and income tests, which previously had formed the means test, were combined into a composite whole called the merged means test under which means were calculated by adding personal earnings to 10 per cent of the value of property. In 1962 there was a reduction from 20 to 10 years in the residence qualification for age pension. A standard rate of pension was introduced in 1963.

Before that, the maximum rate of pension for a single person was the same as for a married person. The new standard rate gave single pensioners a higher payment in recognition of the economies available to a married couple from sharing living expenses. Also in 1963 a payment known as mother's allowance was added to the rate of widow's pension. In 1965 an equivalent payment was extended to single age and invalid pensioners with children. In 1965 wife's allowance was extended to cover any pensioner wife not herself entitled to a pension. Previously it was payable only if the pensioner was incapacitated. Sheltered employment allowance was introduced in 1967 for persons employed in sheltered workshops and qualified to receive invalid pension. The allowance was payable as a supplement to the sheltered employee's workshop earnings in lieu of invalid pension, but at the same rate. A more liberal means test applied to the allowance than to invalid pension but was superseded by the tapered means test in 1969. A concession commonly called 'special temporary allowance' was introduced in 1968 to assist pensioners on the death of a spouse.

In effect, the allowance provided for the continuing payment, for 12 weeks after the death of the spouse, of the total pension payable to the couple. Also in 1968 the residence qualification of five years for widow's pension was abolished in respect of women becoming widows while living in Australia. In the same year the Commonwealth agreed to subsidise the States to assist mothers with the sole care or children and not eligible for widow's pension. A major liberalisation of the pension means test took place in 1969. The rate of reduction in pension was changed From 100 per cent to 50 per cent of the amount by which pensioner's means exceeded the maximum level not affecting the pension rate. The new arrangement became known as the 'tapered means test'. It was accompanied by a measure, to restrict the availability of the Pensioner Medical Service. Under this measure, people who qualified for pensions only because of the tapered means test did not become entitled to Pensioner Medical Service benefits as well. 1970 ONWARDS The earlier part of this period saw an expansion of existing provisions. The latter part has been one of consolidation and rationalisation. The major events are described below.

Introduction and abolition of benefits In 1970 a 'long-term rate' of sickness benefit became payable after six weeks in receipt of benefit. At the same time such beneficiaries paying rent became eligible to receive supplementary allowance (now known as rent assistance). The long term rate was absorbed in 1973. The wife's allowance was replaced by wife's pension in 1972. The new pension was payable to an age, invalid or repatriation service pensioner's wife who was not entitled to a pension herself. In 1973 supporting mother's benefit was introduced for single mothers not entitled to widow's pension. The new benefit was payable after a six-month waiting period, during which time the States remained responsible for the single mother's income support under the Commonwealth-State cost-sharing arrangements introduced in 1968. The supporting mother's benefit was extended in 1977 to single fathers, including widowers and divorcees, and renamed supporting parent's benefit. The six-month waiting period for this benefit was abolished in 1980 when the States withdrew from the Commonwealth-State cost-sharing arrangements. The six-month waiting period still applying to certain categories of widow's pension was also abolished in 1980.

Also in 1973 a double orphan's pension was introduced for the guardian of a child who's parents are both dead. The pension is a flat-rate non-income-tested payment. In 1974 a free-of-income-test, fiat-rate payment called handicapped child's allowance was introduced. This was for parents of severely handicapped children requiring constant care and attention at home. The allowance was extended to cover less severely handicapped children in low-income families in 1977. Family allowances were introduced in 1976. This was effected by substantially increasing child endowment rates, extending eligibility for students to include those aged 21 to 24 years (inclusive), and abolishing tax rebates for children and students. Low-income families gained substantially from these changes. The spouse carer's pension was introduced in 1983. It was payable to a man caring for his severely handicapped or invalid wife who required constant care and attention in the matrimonial home. In 1985 it was .subsumed by the carer's pension which provides income support to a person with limited means who is providing constant and long-term care to severely disabled spouse or near relative receiving an age or invalid pension.

Also in 1983, Family Income Supplement (FIS) was introduced in the form of an income-tested, non-taxable allowance payable in respect of children to the main breadwinner in low-income families not receiving a pension or benefit. Payment was transferred to the family allowance recipient (usually the mother) in 1984. Two other new payments were introduced in 1983. Mobility allowance became payable to severely handicapped persons unable to use public transport, and rehabilitation allowance (broadly equivalent to an invalid pension) became payable to persons assisted through the Commonwealth Rehabilitation Service. Remote area allowance was introduced in 1984. This allowance is payable to pensioners and beneficiaries who reside in specified areas of Tax Zone A. In 1985 payment of family allowance in respect of student children who have attained the age of 18 was discontinued, except in the case of certain low-income families. An income test was introduced in 1987 on family allowance for students aged 16 and 17. A special addition to family allowances became payable in 1985 to certain families with multiple births (three children or more) until the children reach six years of age .

Rent assistance was extended to unemployment beneficiaries in 1986. Young homeless allowance was introduced in 1986 to provide additional assistance to unemployment and sickness beneficiaries under 18 years who are homeless and without parental or custodial support. Fringe benefits changes In 1973, the conditions of eligibility for access to the Pensioner Medical Service (now Pensioner Health Benefits) were tightened by freezing the disqualifying levels of income. These limits remained frozen until 1979. Further increases in the limits took place in 1979 and 1982. Automatic indexation was introduced in 1983. Eligibility for Pensioner Health Benefits, and all associated Commonwealth fringe benefits, was extended to recipients of supporting parents' benefits in 1979 and sickness benefits in 1980. Entitlement to only a limited range of fringe benefits had been originally granted to supporting mothers and later, supporting fathers. In 1983, the basic income limits applicable to persons eligible for 'fringe benefits' became indexed in line with movements in prices.

Also in 1983, people who gave up an invalid pension or sheltered employment allowance to take up open employment became eligible for Health Care Cards free of income test for a period of 12 months. The aim was to improve incentives for invalid pensioners to re-enter the open workforce. In 1985 fringe benefits were made subject to an assets test as well as the income test. The assets test limits are indexed annually in line with price movements. Means tests The pension means test has undergone several significant changes since 1970. It was abolished for pensioners aged 75 and over in 1973 and for pensioners aged 70 and over in 1975. The means test was replaced by an income test in 1976. In 1978 the rate of the free- of-income-test age pension for those aged 70 years and over was frozen. In 1983 this frozen rate became subject to a special income test which will eventually be overtaken by the normal income test. An assets test on pensions was introduced in 1985. It operates alongside the income test. Assets test limits are increased in line with price movements.

The income test for unemployment and sickness benefits was liberalised several times between 1980 and 1986. Indexation and rates In 1973 the single and married rates of unemployment and sickness benefits were increased for all age groups to bring them up to an appropriate standard equivalent to the married rates of pension. The long-term sickness benefit rate was superseded by this measure. The pension and benefit rates were increased in 1975 in line with price movements, except in the case of unemployment and sickness benefits for single people aged under 18. In 1977, this link became automatic. Indexation was withdrawn from the rate of unemployment benefit for single persons 18 years and over in 1978. It was restored in 1983 but again withdrawn for those aged 18, 19 and 20 years in 1985. Ad hoc increases have been granted for those beneficiaries since, and further steps announced are designed to integrate unemployment benefits for persons under 21 with education allowances. Portability and residence In 1972 reciprocal (pension portability) agreements were concluded with Italy, Greece, Turkey and Malta.

These were superseded in 1973 by the introduction of general portability of Australian pensions. In 1974 the residence test applying to invalid pension was abolished for persons whose permanent incapacity or blindness occurred in Australia. Pensions granted after I July 1986 are now subject to a residence proportion formula for portability purposes. OTHER BENEFITS In conclusion, it should perhaps be added that the private sector continues to play an important role in the provision of financial support to people in major contingencies. Private employers are required by State government legislation (and equivalent measures in the Commonwealth Territories) to insure their employees against work injuries and specified occupational diseases; industrial awards usually provide for a measure of paid sick leave; and occupational pension schemes are becoming increasingly available to employees. Employees in the public sector are also entitled to work injury benefits and paid sick leave, which are financed from general revenue. They are also covered by occupational pension schemes to which the government (as the employer) and employees both contribute. Coverage against the financial consequences of road injuries is provided through insurance (third party insurance is compulsory for motorists). A large volume of life insurance is also written. Document Selection

Question: In what year was the old age pension introduced in the UK?
Answer: 1909